Hold On Tight: HOT
by Fawkes Devaue
Summary: Reimagining of Arrow S.2 How it should've been! Oliver faces the inevitability of him & Felicity, while keeping that one unforgettable night they shared a secret from Digg. Olicity slow-burn! A deep friendship blossoms into a passionate love affair. Scully to his Mulder, Lois to his Clark...you get the idea. Plus, original Team Arrow, something we've been missing from the show.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow (the show or the comics). Anything you may recognize (characters, situations, dialogue, etc.) belongs to the writers and producers of the show. Everything else is mine!**

**A/N: For those of you who have read my other works, I just want to let you all know that this piece is lighter and a bit fluffier then everything else I've written. It is purely an Olicity story (yeah!). Just some main points I need to make sure you are all aware of…**

**This story starts off right after season one and towards the beginning of season two. From there I will branch out and do my own thing. This is essentially what I wish season 2 was like. As for certain characters *cough* Lance Sisters *cough*…Laurel will have a minor role in this and Oliver will see her for what she really is…Sara (honestly I'm not sure whether I will bring her into this story, but if I do she will NOT be a love interest whatsoever for Oliver) did not get marooned on the island when the yhat went down. She was taken in immediately by the League of Assassins and Oliver hasn't seen her since (he honestly thinks she's dead).**

**Digg will be hooking up with Lyla (as sweet as Carly was, it was a little weird for me to take their relationship seriously given the fact that she was his brother's wife).**

**Walter will make a prominent secondary character in this piece. As for Moira, I'm not sure whether I'm going to make her good/bad/indifferent, but she will be a side minor character.**

**The Mirakuru aspect of season 2 as well as some of my personal favorite Olicity moments will make a scene in this story, but as I said…it will mostly be nothing like season 2 of the show.**

**Given the fact that Sara never made it to the island with Oliver, things there will have happened a little differently but just as horrifying.**

**Thanks for putting up with the absurdly long Author's Note. Now, on to the story…**

**Prologue: Revelations**

_Digg's POV…_

When John Diggle first joined in on Oliver Queen's crusade to save Starling City, he had shown quite a lot of hesitation. While he understood why Oliver acted and did the things he did – killing and pushing the people closest to him away – he didn't necessarily agree with is methods. He had tried for months to convince Oliver that things could be done another way, but Oliver still believed himself to be back on that island.

He found it ironic that when one Felicity Smoak came on the team that Oliver was a hell of a lot more open to doing things differently than when it had just been him and Digg. It wasn't hard to see that some sort of connection had quickly been formed between the two – Felicity's light and Oliver's darkness – even before Digg had been introduced to dyed blond.

Digg was the type of person who was not afraid to speak his mind and let his emotions be shown when the time was called for it. He maintained that belief while working side by side with Oliver and extension, Felicity. Digg made it known how he didn't approve of Oliver's twisted relationship with Psycho Helena, nor did he approve of Oliver's unhealthy relationship with Perfect – depending on who you asked – Laurel. McKenna had been Oliver's first somewhat healthy relationship since he had returned from the island, but it had been tainted by Oliver's secrets of being the Hood and then by Helena's rage. McKenna had been nice, but not good for Oliver. In Digg's opinion, Oliver needed someone who was just as stubborn and hardheaded as he was; someone who was not afraid to stand toe-to-toe with him in a fight; someone whom he could share his secrets, both past and present, with; someone who was pure, honest, loyal, and independent…someone who would accept him and hope that he would – not change – but grow into the better version of himself that Digg knew he could be.

It was downright ironic that the day that Digg had been thinking that, Felicity should join their little motley crew of masked heroes.

Felicity had a quiet strength about her. She babbled, was adorable, an absolute genius, and her loud voice was downright scary. She was human, had faults, and imperfections, but for Oliver…she was perfect. But, her strength did seem to just be within her. It seemed to radiate off of her in silent invisible waves. Digg remembered when Felicity had brought Oliver down into the Foundry with his help and the poor boy had gone and gotten himself shot…by his own mother, no less. He remembered how as Oliver lay unconscious, Felicity walked around the Foundry, stopping at Oliver's bow before she lifted it and drew the string back. Now, Digg prided himself on being fit and strong, but even he couldn't pull the string back on Oliver's bow; the mere fact that Felicity had been able to do so with just as little of effort as Oliver was breathtaking. Oliver had been just as shocked when Digg had relayed the moment back to him later that night after Felicity had gone home.

Yet, despite how perfect Felicity was for Oliver, Digg often worried about that possibility because, let's face it, the likelihood of Felicity and Oliver getting together was getting higher and higher each and every day. Oliver was a good man underneath it all, but he needed to get over his past – specifically his past with Laurel, which that in itself had not been great to begin with, so why Oliver was so hell bent on returning to said past with Laurel, was a mystery to him – in order to see the bright light of his future. Digg worried that if Oliver didn't do that at some point, Felicity would pay the price for the younger man's foolishness.

All he could do was hope and pray that Oliver would see the treasure he had waiting for him in the alcoves of his life.

**One Month…**

The first month after the undertaking was the worst. Moira Queen was arrested, Verdant was a complete wreck, Tommy Merlyn was not dead but instead in a coma for who knows for how long, one of the board members at Queen Consolidated had "gone rogue" as Felicity so eloquently put it and was trying to take over the company from the inside out, and worst of the worst…Oliver Queen was MIA: Missing In Action.

At first, Digg and Felicity let it be. They both knew that Oliver needed some time away from everything.

**Two Months…**

It was a Godsend when Walter Steel came back as acting CEO of Queen Consolidated in order to stop any and all corporate take overs a certain QC board member was trying to do. However, the peace would only last so long considering that Walter Steel was not a true Queen, which was a bit of a problem at the moment. Moira Queen was in prison, Thea Queen was to young and inexperienced to join Walter at the company, and certain Oliver Queen was still MIA.

So, Walter had turned to the only other person whom he could trust: Felicity Smoak. The moment of his return he made her the head of Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences division, giving her full reign and an infinite budget to invent anything her little IT heart desired…so long as it benefited the company.

Digg was happy for her. As for his new position, well considering Oliver was still MIA he was no longer protecting him but was now at present Thea Queen's bodyguard. He would drop Felicity off at Queen Consolidated in the morning and then spend the day with Thea as she and Roy helped bring Verdant back to its former glory, before he would drop her off and go back to Queen Consolidated to pick up Felicity at the end of the day. It was a cycle that they perfected in very little time.

**Three Months…**

That was when Felicity had said that "enough was enough" and her hunt for Oliver Queen began. She spent her days at work at Queen Consolidated while she spent her nights with him in the Foundry looking for a certain Blond-Billionaire-Douche. Meanwhile, Digg also helped her re-do the Foundry and turned it into the "superhero-spy-lair that a vigilante deserved," were her exact words.

However, by the end of the month and no Oliver in sight Felicity began to grow very frustrated.

**Four Months…**

Digg wasn't sure who he felt more sorry for: Felicity, Oliver, or Tommy Merlyn.

Felicity who seemed to lose a bit more of her light with each passing day that Oliver didn't just miraculously show up back in Starling City. It was heartbreaking to watch her as she sat hours on end in the new office chair she had bought for her desk down in the Foundry. He had lost count of the number of times she had fallen asleep in that very chair and he'd had to carry to the car and back to her apartment. It was odd that was the first time he had ever been to her apartment and it certainly wasn't what he had expected.

It was perhaps in one of the more expensive parts of the City with a great view of the entirety of Starling. The apartment itself was studio styled with three brick walls and one wall of windows. The Kitchen and Dining area were the first to be seen before going into the living room area. Everything seemed so natural and earthy with sculptures of trees and wood, candles, cactus plants, bright roses in pots near the window, accented with splashes of color everywhere. He couch was a red burn orange color made of soft fluffy fabric. He wasn't sure what kind of style the place could be named – it was modern yet vintage all at once – it was simply…Felicity. The bedroom was separated by a single pillar or red brick and two archways. One arch was filled with an array of hanging stained glass windows in order to make a makeshift wall of privacy while the other arch was filled with a simple deep purple velvet curtain that had been pulled and gathered of to the side. She had a four-poster deep dark wood bed with a white comforter of bows and a light plum colored silk sheets. Off to the side in a corner of the living area leading to her bedroom was a wall of computer and monitors. It was Felicity's very own Lair.

So, Digg would often leave her there lying on top of her bed with a small blanket that he stole from her couch draped over her. He was always kind enough to pull her shoes off and put them at the foot of her bed, and he always made sure her coffee would be ready to be made when she was awake.

He took care of her…but he shouldn't have had to…that was Oliver's job – or at least it should have been Oliver's job.

As for Tommy…there was a shit-load of stuff that Digg felt sorry for the poor younger man. Felicity had been kind enough to find a way to leak certain information to the public to make it look like Malcolm Merlyn all too willing to sacrifice his own son for his cause. It made Tommy look like a martyr and the people of Starling City took the information in stride. Despite the fact that Tommy was indeed still in his coma, it would be even harder when the boy woke up, which is what Felicity assured him – or was it herself she was trying to convince, for Oliver's sake – was going to happen. Tommy would wake up.

Felicity did the same thing with Oliver's disappearance a few months ago. There was no if involved…he would come home if she had anything to say about. Digg hoped she was right on both accounts.

On top of being stuck in a coma, Tommy would later have to deal with the Oliver/Laurel situation. It had become common knowledge that Laurel had jumped into Oliver's pants the moment he had admitted his feelings for her, despite her constant preaching about wanting to make things work between her and Tommy. Granted, Oliver wasn't innocent in the situation either, but at least he had been honest about what he wanted while Laurel seemed hell bent on stringing along both men. It was one of the things that did nothing to warm Laurel to Digg's personal opinion about the woman. She was good at heart, but didn't seem to be able to have a healthy relationship as much as Oliver himself was capable of. Not to mention the fact that Oliver was in fact the cause for Malcolm Merlyn's ultimate demise.

Digg was still curious on how they were going to work that last part out.

**Five Months…**

By that time Digg was just as frustrated as Felicity was and had decided to help her as much as he could in tracking Oliver down. When it became apparent as to just where Oliver had run off to, they had both been so shocked and furious that they had both sworn ultimate vengeance on their arrow-shooting-friend. While Felicity was hell bent on dragging Oliver's ass back to Starling City, Digg had thankfully convinced her to let him deal with the flight details, after all he was the retrieval specialist thanks to his training in the military and had much more experience with this sort of thing then Felicity did.

**Present…**

So, there they were in a rickety old plan and about to jump out of said plane and all Digg could hear from Felicity, other than her screams of terror as they fell from the sky towards the rocky terrain below, was "This is for Oliver. For Oliver."

Yup, Oliver had some serious explaining to do when they caught up with him.

_Felicity's POV…_

From the moment Oliver Queen had walked into her small cubicle at Queen Consolidated Felicity Smoak's life had never been the same. It hadn't been hard to figure out that he was the Arrow from the start, from his bad cover stories and his mysterious aura. Granted that didn't stop her from being surprised when her suspicions were confirmed by Oliver himself and boy did he know how to make and entrance. It wasn't every day that the Arrow – who had just been shot, by his own mother no less; granted she didn't know it was her son at the time – was hiding in the backseat of her car asking for help.

Felicity felt herself growing more and more attached to her new friends and partners in crime. The first time she saw him shirtless was when she had helped Digg treat Oliver's gunshot wound, the same night she had officially joined his team, and she had been just as entranced by his chiseled chest as any other sane girl in the universe.

However, it wasn't just his sarcastic nature, his smart ass comments, or his little smile that only she seemed to be able to bring out in him, not even his drop-dead good looks that drew her to him. It was the fact that he wanted to be a better person, to save the city, to help others with no reward for himself that made her want to get closer and closer to him.

They seemed to become friends right from the beginning. He trusted her and relied on her in ways that he didn't with others…not even perfect-beautiful-Laurel-Lance. They had a connection…something deep that held all three of them together. It probably had something to do with saving the city every night and facing life and death situations on a regular basis.

So, when Oliver decided to go MIA on them, no one was more annoyed, disappointed, hurt…than Felicity Smoak.

**One Month…**

The first month that Oliver had been…missing…was the most illuminating for Felicity as she spent all thirty-one days going back and contemplating everything they had done as a team. When she had learned that Laurel and Oliver had sex a couple of days before the Undertaking, Felicity had felt as if something inside of her had died, which she didn't fully understand. Sure, she had a major crush on Oliver, but that's all it was. They were friends first and foremost and she was not about to risk their friendship for some funky hormones that had a tendency to play with her mind and body. If anything she should have felt happy for Oliver for finally getting back with Laurel considering that's what and who he had wanted ever since his return. So, why was there this growing part of her that wanted nothing more than to strangle Laurel Lance and smack Oliver Queen upside the head? Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that any relationship with Laurel was simply not healthy, for either parties involved, and that it would most likely end in tragedy.

Yup, that was the reason. Totally true.

But, then there was brave and selfless Tommy who had been betrayed by his best friend and the woman he loved and when he woke up…well, that wasn't going to end well either.

**Two Months…**

When Walter Steel returned to Starling City and saw fit to put her in charge of the entire Applied Sciences division of Queen Consolidated, Felicity took her new job in stride and used it as the ultimate distraction…to keep her mind off of her missing partner. It was an even big surprise and pleasure when Felicity received a sort of new friend in the form of one Thea Queen.

It was odd, how their friendship had started. One day Felicity had come to Verdant to take a look at the destruction beneath the club to see if she could salvage anything and the next Thea was offering her a drink and a few hours later they were both royally buzzed and sharing stories about Oliver. Thea would tell her what a douchbag he had been before the island and Felicity would share with her about how Oliver was more adult and mature…how he had started to grow into a better version of himself…minus the Arrow stuff, which she had firmly kept lock-lipped about. That was how Digg and Roy found them and had to carry both girls out of the club before they passed out from drinking too much.

From that moment on Thea and Felicity found solace in each other about the two most important people in their lives and how both had royally screwed up. Thea listened to Felicity get frustrated over Oliver's MIA ass, while Felicity listened to Thea express her fears about her mother and the type of person she really was.

**Three Months…**

Felicity had long ago accepted the fact that Oliver needed some time to himself after the horrors of the Undertaking, but enough was enough and that was the month that her search for him began, but it proved to be harder than she thought it would be.

**Four Months…**

With the intention of dragging Oliver back home kicking and screaming if she had to, Felicity set out to ensure that everything was ready when he came back. While Walter was acting CEO of Queen Consolidated and would probably remain so after Oliver's return, given the fact that Oliver had no degree in business nor did he have the mindset or temperament to sit behind a desk all day every day from nine to five. So, she and Walter had stepped aside at the office to make plans to what Oliver would be doing for the company when he did come back (not if! when). They had the solution of making Oliver a board member, meaning he would only come into work when there were board meetings – which on average were two/three times a weak – which she had convinced Walter to ensure that all of them would be scheduled for any time after 1pm so that Oliver – who spent his night out late arrowing the criminals and scup of Starling City – would actually be able to get a good night's sleep for once. Oliver would essentially be the face of Queen Consolidated while Walter and she would be the brains and savvy behind the business

On top of preparing things for Oliver's return at the company, Felicity was also busy spending time re-inventing the Foundry which she had recently dubbed the Arrow Lair. The floors were heated, the walls were cleaned, new stainless steel desks and counters were installed, a couple of glass cases to hold Oliver's Arrow suit and all the weapons; there was a small section of three desks full of computer screens which became Felicity's new station and the mere fact that it gave her a perfect view of the salmon ladder and the training matts was a total coincidence. Yes, sir. Absolutely.

Now, considering that Oliver was MIA it was and ingenious plan on Felicity's part to implant as many false articles on Arrow sightings while in his absence, after all it would be a bit too obvious for Oliver and the Arrow to go MIA for five months (at the same time) and then come back five months later (at the same time).

However, it was not her intention to done the Arrow Suit herself – that was simply an accident caused by a lot of frustration and a few too many shots she had taken with Thea one night. She would never forget Commissioner Quintin Lance's face when he caught her in an alley way wearing the hood while waving around the bow and arrow she had made for Oliver. That was all she remembered of that night, that and the fact that she woke up twelve hours later in her apartment with an irritated but amused John Diggle staring at her over a cup of coffee. Yup, totally and accident.

**Five Months…**

Honestly, everything had been a blur until she found where Oliver was hiding, what very large rock he had decided to bury his head under, and that in itself made her fly into a blackout inducing rage. She was going to have some choice words to say to a certain Billionaire-Vigilante when she got a hold of him.

**Present…**

Jumping out of a plan had not been on her bucket list of things to do, but at least she could brag about actually having done it. Now, here she was traipsing through the jungle of some godforsaken island literally named Purgatory hoping she and Digg would simply miraculously run into Oliver. But, then again this was Oliver Queen she was talking about here. He never did anything the easy way.

_Oliver's POV…_

When he had returned from the island, Oliver had done everything in his power to regain some sense of self. He had longed to reconnect with Laurel, to bond with Tommy, to share in the company and love of his family; but all of that seemed like a fantasy now. There was so much that he and Malcolm Merlyn had set in motion that had altered and even destroyed some of the live of the most important people to him.

Laurel was irreparably damaged by him and he couldn't blame her for her attitude towards him…at first. He had cheated on her with her sister and because of the act of unfaithfulness an entire chain of events had fallen into place. Sara died, Detective Lance had hit-the-bottle so to speak, Mrs. Lance had run away, and Laurel had taken solace in Tommy's arms.

Thea was a grown woman who was now somewhat of a complete stranger to him. His mother had more secrets then he could ever comprehend. His family had been torn apart and lazily sown back together.

His only good since he had returned was the mere fact that he had set out to do what his father had begged him to do with his dying breath: "Right my wrongs." Granted, he had only half succeeded in that, but he had succeeded in creating a team of remarkable people.

After his self-imposed exile for five months, Oliver had a lot of time to think and realized just how much Digg and Felicity – especially Felicity – meant to him until they weren't there to guide him through his day-to-day routine.

Digg had become not just a friend, but his brother in arms – a fellow soldier that had been willing to follow him into battle – while Felicity had become a light that seemed to constantly drag him back away from the darkness that surrounded him.

He lost count how many times he had fallen asleep on the island with her face floating in his dreams. He thought about her when he woke up, when he trained – he missed her wandering eye that always seemed to land on his chest in those moments – and before he went to sleep. No longer were his thoughts focused on Laurel, who was now a part of his dark past, but on Felicity a light that would guide him to his future.

His light…his friend…his partner…his…

_His_.


End file.
